This application is based on Patent Application No. 2001-305801 filed Oct. 1, 2001 in Japan, the content of which is incorporated hereinto by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus used as an image output terminal for computers and also to a printing apparatus used as a recording unit for copying machines, word processors and facsimiles. More specifically, the present invention relates to a printing apparatus having a variety of drive sources to perform various drive operations, a printing apparatus drive control method, a printing system having the printing apparatus, and a program for executing the drive control method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Printing apparatuses are known to have a plurality of selectable print modes such as high resolution print mode and fast print mode according to a user demand. Such conventional printing apparatus adopts a construction in which a control of various drive sources for performing main and sub scans is made variable to match a selected print mode.
In recent years the size and weight and the cost of the printing apparatus have drastically decreased. The printing apparatus are now being used widely in offices and homes and even have found personal uses. With the use of the printing apparatus ever spreading, environments in which the printing apparatus are used are becoming more and more versatile. Under these circumstances, there are growing needs to consider the environments under which the printing apparatus are used.
For example, operation noise of the printing apparatus, as produced by supplying and feeding of a print medium, scanning of a print head and a printing operation, though it may not feel noisy during the day, may become a nuisance at night when surroundings are quiet. The time when the operation noise becomes a problem is not limited to the night-time. For example, in such environments as libraries and schools, a quietness is given a special importance and therefore the operation noise of the printing apparatus is better avoided.
The magnitude of operation noise of the printing apparatus is related to a printing speed and thus reducing the printing speed can lower the operation noise. In the printing apparatus described above, because a fine print mode is accompanied by a reduction in the printing speed, selecting this mode can perform a comparatively quiet printing.
However, the fine print mode consumes a relatively large volume of print liquid (i.e., ink in the case of an ink jet printer). It may therefore happen that an unintended increase in the print liquid consumption results when the user does not originally want such a fine print. To minimize the consumption of the print liquid, therefore, the user has no other alternative but to select a fast print mode which produces relatively large operation noise.
That is, the conventional printing apparatus place importance on the selection of print modes and it is difficult to use the printing apparatus according to both the user demand and the environment in which it is being used.
The present invention has been accomplished with a view to overcoming the problem described above. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a printing apparatus that allows the user to perform printing without worrying the operation noise emitted to the surroundings whichever print mode the user selects.
To solve the problem described above, the present invention in one aspect provides a printing apparatus using a print head for ejecting a print liquid onto a print medium to form an image on the print medium, the printing apparatus comprising: a drive control means to drive one or more of a plurality of drive sources in a first drive mode or a second drive mode selectively, wherein the plurality of drive sources are adapted to cause a plurality of driven portions in the printing apparatus to perform predetermined operations and the second drive mode makes a driving of the drive sources quieter than in the first mode; and a mode switching means to switch between the first drive mode and the second drive mode.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a method of controlling a printing apparatus, wherein the printing apparatus uses a print head for ejecting a print liquid onto a print medium to form an image on the print medium, the method comprising: a drive control step of driving one or more of a plurality of drive sources in a first drive mode or a second drive mode, wherein the plurality of drive sources are adapted to cause a plurality of driven portions in the printing apparatus to perform predetermined operations and the second drive mode makes a driving of the drive sources quieter than in the first mode; and a mode switching step of switching between the first drive mode and the second drive mode.
In still another aspect, the present invention provides a printing system comprising: a printing apparatus using a print head for ejecting a print liquid onto a print medium to form an image on the print medium; and an image supply device for supplying image data to the printing apparatus so that the printing apparatus can perform printing according to the image data supplied; wherein the printing apparatus includes: a drive control means to drive one or more of a plurality of drive sources in a first drive mode or a second drive mode, wherein the plurality of drive sources are adapted to cause a plurality of driven portions in the printing apparatus to perform predetermined operations and the second drive mode makes a driving of the drive sources quieter than in the first mode; and a mode switching means to switch between the first drive mode and the second drive mode.
In the above, the plurality of driven portions may include, for the purpose of performing the printing, a supplying means for introducing the print medium into the printing apparatus and a scanning means for scanning the print head relative to the print medium, and the supplying means and the scanning means may be each provided with one of the drive sources.
The scanning means may have, for the purpose of performing the printing, a means for main-scanning the print head relative to the print medium and a means for sub-scanning the print medium after each main scan, and the main-scanning means and the sub-scanning means may be each provided with one of the drive sources.
In the above, the plurality of the driven portions may further include a performance maintaining means for maintaining a performance of the print head of applying the print liquid and the performance maintaining means may be provided with one of the drive sources.
Further, when performing the driving in the first drive mode, the drive control means or the drive control step may use a plurality of drive control data associated with a series of drive controls.
When performing the driving in the second drive mode, the drive control means or the drive control step may select, from the plurality of drive control data used in the first drive mode, drive control data that achieves a quiet driving and set the selected drive control data.
Further, the drive control means or the drive control step may perform the selection and setting so that drive speeds of the drive sources at each stage of a series of drive controls in the second drive mode are equal to or less than drive speeds of the drive sources at each stage of a series of drive controls in the first drive mode.
In the above, a plurality of preset print modes may be provided according to a plurality of ways in which the printing using the print head is performed, and the plurality of print modes may be each provided with the first drive mode.
Further, the driving of the drive sources in the second drive mode may not be varied among the plurality of different print modes.
Further, in the above, the print head may be an ink jet print head that ejects ink as the print liquid, and the ink jet print head may have heating elements that generate a thermal energy to eject ink by causing a film boiling in the ink.
Furthermore, the present invention includes a control program for instructing a computer to execute any form of the printing apparatus control method described above and a storage medium storing the control program.
With this invention it is possible to perform printing without the user worrying about the operation noise of the printing apparatus emitted to the surroundings whatever print mode is selected.
In this specification, the word xe2x80x9cprintxe2x80x9d (or xe2x80x9crecordxe2x80x9d) means not only forming significant information, such as characters and figures, but also forming images, patterns and figures on a print medium or processing a print medium.
The xe2x80x9cprint mediumxe2x80x9d includes not only paper used in common printing apparatus but also a wide range of materials that can accommodate ink, such as cloth, plastic films, metal plates, glass, ceramics, wood materials and leather. The print medium may also be referred to as xe2x80x9cprint paperxe2x80x9d or simply xe2x80x9cpaperxe2x80x9d in the following description.
Further, the word xe2x80x9cinkxe2x80x9d (or xe2x80x9cliquidxe2x80x9d) should be interpreted in a wide sense as with the definition of the xe2x80x9cprintxe2x80x9d and refers to a liquid applied to a print medium to form images, patterns and figures on the print medium, to process the print medium or to process the ink (e.g., solidification or insolubilizing of colorants in the ink applied to the print medium).
The above and other objects, effects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.